A collection of thoughts and asides about life. And if I think of anything that needs to be mocked, it will show up here.

"If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way."--Bertrand Russell

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

The Perils of the Early Adopter

I wanted a tablet.

As much as I liked my iPhone, I wasn't sure I wanted an iPad. I also wasn't too comfortable with an Android device. So I bought a Dell Inspiron 10 tablet, mainly because I have a Dell account with a small balance.

So how is it?

With one exception, the hardware is great. The exception? The USB ports won't read a single one of my flash drives. Not one. I know they work, because the keyboard portfolio can be powered from it. The tablet has bluetooth, and it can pick up one of the AT&T phones in the house. It doesn't pick up the keyboard portfolio either. (I tried to write a review on the Dell website, but when I wrote it was a piece of crap, Dell flagged it as containing profanity. I changed crap to poo and it was acceptable.) Nor does it pick up my Backbeat headphones. Fortunately, the SD slot works, so I can put stuff on the tablet.

The main problem with the tablet is the software. Big surprise, right? Windows 8 actually works pretty well. I like the way the tiles can be arranged and resized. I like that I can change the lock screen picture. And while I can change the desktop image, I can't change the background the tiles are on. Poo.

Like other Windows products, 8 occasionally locks up and the tablet has to be rebooted. It's kind of inconvenient when checking your mail, though. Speaking of mail, Microsoft hates POP mail. Windows 8 does not support the POP address your ISP provided you.

I tried downloading Open Office and Chrome, but guess what run on Windows 8? That's right. Both of them!

The Windows store seems full of apps. A lot of free ones, but ones that should be free cost $4.99. I refuse to pay $4.99 for Angry Birds Star Wars edition! I wish there were more useful apps. I have some great apps on my iPhone, but they don't seem to have Windows equivalents.

0 Comments:

Links to this post:

About Me

Jeff Holt was born in Brownwood, Texas, a seventh generation Texan, and Thirteenth generation American.

He has lived in Fredericksburg, Texas, most of his life. He graduated from Fredericksburg High School in 1980, Nagasaki Weslyan Junior College in Isahaya, Japan in 1985, Schreiner College (now University) in 1987, and University of Texas Graduate School in 1989.